The Giver  Chapter 24
by domstang68
Summary: I had to write a 24th chapter for history. Here is how I think the book would have ended.


The Giver Chapter 24 Domenic Mitri 3rd Period

The music became louder and louder. Gabriel began to stir. Jonas continued to slip through the wind, flying down the hill. Looking through the windows, he could see fires. Little fires burning in firerooms. People were in the houses, celebrating. But Jonas saw one thing that was totally different. Love. What all families are supposed to have. He remembered his own family, how they all took the pills. Now Jonas realized those pills blocked the feeling of love. This piece of elsewhere was quite large, as Jonas had always lived in a small, controlled community. This community was allowed to do its own thing, everyone had a choice. Jonas thought about this, the fact that everyone had a choice, when he fell off the sled. Gabriel was okay, but startled and began to cry. Jonas began to comfort him when he heard a voice.

"Hello, are you in need of some help?"

Jonas turned around to see a young woman. He wasn't sure what to do, as this could have been a spy from his community. He decided to take the risk however.

"Yes, I have traveled a long way. I need a place to stay."

The woman smiled and motioned to follow. Jonas followed her about fifty feet until he stood by a 4 wheeled vehicle. "This isn't a bike."

The woman replied, "Of course not. This is an automobile. Bikes are for the summer when it is warmer."

Jonas was glad to get in, as these automobiles had heaters built into them. Gabriel had fallen back asleep, and Jonas placed the safety belt across him, and then held Gabriel tightly. The woman moved a lever and pushed down on a pedal, and Jonas was moving faster than he ever did on a bike. In front of the woman, there were two moving dials, and Jonas heard the music again, but this time it was right next to him. After about 5 minutes, the woman pulled into a piece of road next to a small house.

"It isn't much, but please make yourself at home."

Jonas got Gabriel out of the car and opened the door to the house. Unlike the other houses, this one was sparsely decorated, with unusual furniture. There was a box with a moving picture and sound in the corner. The woman was talking on a handheld speaker, connected to an invisible wire. The woman showed Jonas an empty room with a large bed. There was a crib next to the bed and Jonas set Gabriel inside. Once that was done, he walked into the kitchen. "So, where are you from?"

Jonas was fighting with himself. He didn't know what to say, for fear that she was a spy from his community. He decided to say the minimum. "I come from a community up North from here."

The woman replied, "Oh, that's nice." At this point, a girl that looked about Jonas' age walked into the room, crying. She spoke brokenly about a frightening nightmare. The woman comforted this child and the child walked back into her room. The child looked very much like the woman. Jonas was getting tired, even though it was only 9:30. He was so tired, he almost didn't realize something.

He could see color. And every last detail of it.

He looked around the red kitchen, glistened with green. He looked at the woman's hair. It was red, like Fiona's. He looked at the retreating girl. Her hair was also red. He was so amazed by what he saw that he almost didn't realize that the woman was talking to him.

"What's the matter? You looked freaked out."

Jonas just replied, "I have not ever seen this much color in one room.

"Really? My house isn't really decorated. You should go to the center of town, they have a big tree there, and it has over 10,000 lights on it."

Jonas decided to risk a question. "What is the purpose of all the lights?

The woman seemed dumbfounded by this. "Why, this is for Christmas! Surely you have heard of Christmas."

At this point, Jonas was convinced that she didn't belong to his community. He told her the whole story of his life and his journey. The woman was very attentive, listening well. The door suddenly opened.

"I'm home."

Jonas turned around to see a tall man dressed in oil soaked clothes that were wet from melted snow. He walked into the kitchen and greeted his wife. He then turned to Jonas.

"And who would this boy be?

Jonas told him a stripped down story of what he told the woman. The man was attentive too. When Jonas finished, the man spoke.

"You know, I work with aircraft, I test and fix planes. A couple years ago, I got lost and flew off course and happened to fly over your community. After we figured out what happened, I quickly turned around and went back to the hangar. When I arrived back, I checked the map and did some research on the internet. I was fascinated by your town, everything was perfect. I started to get discouraged though, as I figured out how your government worked."

Jonas was confused by this. What was government? Why did the man not like it? He let the man continue.

"Your community is under communist rule, where a group of powerful people have all control over the running of everyone's life. Here, in Cleveland, we have a democracy were people help to run the country, but everyone still will make their own decisions."

Jonas was frightened. Choices? Everyone got to make their own? This place must be out of control!

"In our community, we learned that letting everyone make their own choices is a bad thing. What if someone made the wrong choice?"

The man laughed. "But you see, letting everyone make their own choices is good. You get to control what job you want, as well as who you want to marry, how many kids you want, the size of your house, and other things."

Jonas now looked at choice in an entirely different light. He thought about the freedoms of making your own choices. These people were happy. They weren't force to take a pill. This was _their_ choice. The doorbell rang. "I will get it." The woman stood up and opened the door. Jonas was surprised to see Fiona standing at the doorstep, panting from running, and shivering from the cold. Her hair was a mess.

"Hi, I am a friend of Jonas. I really need to say something to him." She turned. "Everybody has your memories now. The Elders are being questioned. The town has realized what has been forgotten. The Elders are now getting overthrown and war has broken out in the community. By the way, the color of the flowers on the way here were very pretty."

Jonas was shocked to find out that everyone had the ability to see color. Or was it just Fiona?

"Jonas, you cannot return. I cannot return. Not after the life that you have given us, not after what the Elders have taken away from us. Color has been restored to everyone, as well as snow, and for that, we are grateful. Who is this person?"

Jonas was in quite a state of shock to be talking at that moment, so the woman spoke up. "I found Jonas tending to a little toddler. I offered to take him in, and seeing as you must have run from the same place and it is 5 degrees outside, we will take you in."

Fiona thanked them and walked into the room where Jonas was sleeping. Fiona liked the lights decorating the house. She looked at the clock, not surprised that it was 11:45.

"Well, it is very late, it is best for you two to get into bed. You both need plenty of rest."

They both thanked them again and walked into the room. Gabriel began to stir again, so Jonas gave him a happy memory to calm him. Neither Fiona nor Jonas had clothes to change in, so they hopped into bed with the clothes they had on. Jonas felt weird being in the same bed as Fiona, but didn't show it.

"Hey, what was the pill for anyway?

Jonas knew he could trust Fiona. He told about love, how people here have it, how we used to have it, how the pill blocked it so that the population would be controlled.

"Well, I was never very good at remembering little things, I always forgot the pill." Jonas was surprised, as Fiona remembered everything. "Well, I purposely stopped taking it. After I dreamt about... "

He stopped, embarrassed to talk to Fiona about his dream. Fiona noticed his hesitation. "It's okay Jonas, you can tell me anything." Jonas still kept quiet. "You know, I was taking the pill for a reason too, Jonas. I think we have established that."

Jonas made up his mind and explained everything that happened, no matter how embarrassing it was, he just let it all out. Fiona yawned, but continued to listen. After he finished, she wasn't surprised. She basically retold his story from her point of view. Jonas felt better, knowing now that he wasn't alone. Still, he was confused on how to proceed. He decided to go to sleep, as he was straining to stay awake.

He fell asleep. During the night, he woke to the sound of Fiona shaking him. She was still asleep, but he woke her up. She told about her nightmare, as it was normal in the community. Jonas didn't know how to react, so he decided to hold her and drifted off to sleep. Jonas then had a dream.

"It was warm outside. Gabriel was playing in what looked like a puddle; there was a hold in the ground with crystal clear blue water in it. He was older. Fiona was older too, as was he. He looked behind them and a saw an average size house, presumably the one he lived in. He then looked to his finger, and saw a ring on it with Fiona's name etched into it."

He woke up, still realizing that he was holding Fiona, who he had transferred a happy memory to. She was still sound asleep. He realized what that dream meant. He settled back to sleep, now knowing how his future was going to play out.


End file.
